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June 10, 2025
2 min read

Fix Cursor Terminal Hanging with ZSH/Powerlevel10k

Smart on-demand fix for Cursor hanging with ZSH and Powerlevel10k - keep your theme everywhere!

cursorterminalzshpowerlevel10kfix

Fix Cursor Terminal Hanging with ZSH/Powerlevel10k

If Cursor hangs after running terminal commands and you're using ZSH with Powerlevel10k, here's a smart fix that keeps your beautiful theme everywhere.

The Problem

Cursor gets stuck in "generating..." state after terminal commands because it can't parse complex shell prompts from themes like Powerlevel10k.

Our Better Solution

Our approach is smarter than other workarounds - keep your beautiful theme everywhere by default, and only use a simple prompt when hanging actually occurs.

Why This Approach is Better:

  • ✅ Keep Powerlevel10k theme everywhere (including Cursor terminal)
  • ✅ Only switch to simple mode when actually needed
  • ✅ Manual control - you decide when to use the workaround
  • ✅ No workflow disruption

Fix Steps

  1. Backup your config:
cp ~/.zshrc ~/.zshrc.backup
  1. Add these aliases to ~/.zshrc:
# Simple prompt aliases for Cursor compatibility (if needed)
alias simple-prompt='export PS1="➜ %1~ %# "; export PROMPT="➜ %1~ %# "; export RPS1=""; export RPROMPT=""'
alias restore-prompt='source ~/.p10k.zsh 2>/dev/null'
  1. Reload config:
source ~/.zshrc

Usage

Try commands normally first - many work fine with Powerlevel10k:

npm install
git status

If hanging occurs, use the simple prompt:

simple-prompt && npm install

For multiple commands:

simple-prompt && npm install && npm run dev

Restore your theme afterward (optional):

restore-prompt

Result

  • ✅ Beautiful Powerlevel10k theme everywhere by default
  • ✅ No hanging when using simple-prompt workaround
  • ✅ You control when to apply the fix
  • ✅ Perfect for both manual terminal use and AI commands

Much simpler and smarter than solutions that disable your theme completely. You get the best of both worlds!